Proving Elena Wrong
by LittleMissPink96
Summary: Elena said that I'm insensitive and heartless. Time to prove her wrong. Zick x Elena. This story has been discontinued due to lack of time. If anybody is interested in writing the final chapter, feel free to send me a message.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** First chapter!

* * *

As my Dad and I watch Bombo captain his newly acquired ship, Elena's words from earlier ring in my head.

 _"What do you know about love? You're insensitive and heartless. I bet Bombo could be more romantic."_

Coming from anybody but Elena those words wouldn't have bothered me. The fact that Elena said them, though, does bother me. Why, you ask?

Well, I'm in love with her.

Yeah, that's right. I've been head over heels in love with my best friend for goodness knows how long. I don't want to be because it could ruin our friendship if she ever found out but I can't help it. I mean, just picture her in your mind for a minute.

Long, curly, red hair that she entangles with ribbons to create her signature pigtails. Hazel eyes that sparkle when she's excited. Soft, delicate hands with perfectly filed fingernails that fit in mine perfectly whenever we hold hands because a monster is chasing us.

She's alluring and gorgeous. She's beautiful and stunning. She's cute and adorable.

Elena is so much more than just a pretty face though. She's always by my side, whether we're in school or capturing monsters. She's smart and I'm always laughing when we're together. She's fiery and passionate about the things that she enjoys.

In short, Elena is incredible and amazing and quite frankly, perfect. Who could blame me for falling in love with her?

So, when she said that I'm insensitive and heartless and unromantic it stung. Well, I'll show her. I'm going to prove her wrong.

When Dad and I get home that evening, I stand in my bedroom, trying to form a plan in my head.

Romantic dinner and a movie? _Seriously? You can do better than that._

Take her to the beach? _Been there, done that._

Trip to the theatre? _Okay, first of all, you have no money. Second, you want to sweep her off of her feet by sitting in a dark room for two hours?_

Go to the carnival? _It's two months away, idiot._

Picnic in the park? _You're terrible at cooking. Elena even said it herself._

All out of ideas for tonight, I decide to go to sleep. Maybe something will come to me tomorrow.

* * *

A few days later and it's another Monday, another school day. Oh, joy.

"Hey, Elena," I say, waiting for her on the sidewalk.

"Hey, Zick. What's up?" she replies casually as she falls into place by my side.

We begin the walk to school, the normal chit chat of best friends flowing easily between us.

The day flies by like a breeze, the dynamic of the class and people never changing. Patty and Mattie are still maintaining their status as the gossip queens of the school. Ford and Soup are still throwing insults at me that go over my head all too easily. David is still looking at Annie the way I look at Elena when she's concentrating on something else. Just a regular day.

As Elena and I are leaving the school gates, she gets a text from my parents.

"Huh, class at the Ancient Armoury has been cancelled," she says, not looking up from her phone.

"Really? How come?"

"Something about Bombo eating all the desks," she laughs and I laugh with her. I can definitely imagine Bombo doing something like that.

We walk home in a comfortable silence, grateful for not having to attend two schools in one day. It's as we're approaching our houses that I remember my plan. I was originally going to wait until the weekend but since we have a free night, I decide that now is as good a time as any to set my plan in motion.

"Hey, meet me in the park later. Around seven," I say.

"Why?" asks Elena, clearly confused.

"Do you have to question everything I say?"

Elena holds her hands up in mock surrender, rolling her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll see you later."

"Oh, and wear something nice!" I call to her.

"Okay!" she laughs, waving goodbye as she approaches her door.

With that, I watch her go inside her house, a smile on my face.

Time to get to work. The three hours between four and seven are spent hastily preparing my plan. Since it's on such short notice, the only idea I can do is the picnic so I somehow manage to convince Mom to make the picnic whilst I get the flowers. I'm going all out so I even create a playlist of Elena's favourite songs and a few romantic ones too.

This will definitely prove Elena wrong.

* * *

I get to the park a few minutes early, waiting at the entrance for Elena, a bouquet of red roses in hand. Since I told Elena to wear something nice, I've replaced my normal clothes with a purple dress shirt and some jeans that Mom said look smarter than my everyday ones. I've even combed my hair and chosen shoes that haven't been in Bombo's mouth. That was a job in itself.

Hey, if I'm going to impress her I've got to look nice. I'm going to be so romantic tonight, Elena will think I've gone crazy. I might even get a kiss from her or if I'm really lucky, she might even start liking me.

 _Yeah, don't get your hopes up._

"Uh, Zick. What's with the roses?"

A voice startles me out of my thoughts as if somebody had banged a pair of cymbals together right next to me. I turn around to see Elena looking at me with a very confused expression on her face.

She sure did listen when I told her to get dressed up. She's wearing a pastel pink, short summer dress that's covered in small red flowers along with white sandals. Her hair remains the same, her signature ribbons matching the pink of her dress. It's simple but it somehow makes her look even prettier than she always does.

"Oh, uh, they're for you," I say, thrusting them towards her. The ground suddenly becomes very interesting for some reason.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I know I invited her here and I know I told her to dress up a little but with her looking this stunning it's already hard not to get distracted by her.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_

Elena takes the roses hesitantly, obviously confused as to why her best friend is handing her the flowers that represent love.

"Okay," she says, awkwardly. "Quick question. Why are you giving me roses?"

"Well you said that I'm not romantic so I'm going to prove you wrong," I say, a smirk on my face.

Elena looks at me for a few seconds with a blank expression on her face. I'm about to ask her if there's something wrong but then she does something completely unexpected.

She laughs.

Now when I say laugh, I don't mean that she's giggling a little. No, I mean she's full on laughing, keeled over, holding her stomach, barely able to breathe laughing.

After a few minutes, Elena looks up at me, wiping away a few tears. "Are you serious, Zick? Why would you want to prove to your best friend that you're romantic?"

That question stumps me a little. I can't exactly just burst out with "hey, Elena, I know we're best friends but I'm madly in love with you so I want to show you that I can be romantic" can I?

So, instead, I give her an answer that I know she'll believe. "Because I don't want to give you the satisfaction of being right."

I say it light-heartedly, a teasing grin on my face so that she knows I'm not completely serious.

"Alright then, Mr Romantic, lead the way. Sweep me off of my feet!" laughs Elena. It's from this laugh that I can tell she's going to play along.

Her laughter changes the atmosphere from slightly awkward to happy and comfortable as if she's turning a light switch on. My confidence returns and I know I can do this.

The best part of this little situation is that I'll get to openly flirt with her and be romantic and do all the things I want to every time I see her and she'll think I'm doing it just to prove a point, not because I actually have feelings for her. It's perfect.

I take Elena's hand and guide her over to where I'd laid out the picnic blanket and left my backpack earlier. We sit down and I start unpacking the food.

Mom did a great job with this picnic. We've got sandwiches, some fancy cheese which I can't remember the name of with breadsticks, the classic chocolate-covered strawberries, lemonade and my personal favourite – freshly baked chocolate and raspberry brownies.

"Wow, Zick, you really went all out," says Elena, picking up a sandwich.

"Well, Mom made most of the food. I was just the helper," I laugh, grabbing a sandwich as well.

Elena smiles that oh so perfect smile at me and we eat in a comfortable silence for a little while, just enjoying the food and each other's company.

Soon, most of the food is gone and we lie on our backs, staring up at the sky. The sunset is just beginning and we watch as the sky morphs from crystal blues into warm strawberry pinks and daffodil yellows.

"A picnic in the park at sunset. How's that for romantic?" I say, looking over at Elena and trying to figure out what she's thinking.

"The movies normally do it better," says Elena nonchalantly.

"Well then I guess I'll have to kick it up a notch, won't I?"

I reach into my backpack for the small Walkman that I'd somehow managed to squeeze in along with everything else and pop in the cassette that I'd hastily put together earlier. Hey, what can I say? I'm old school.

I hit play and the music starts. Some of it is fun and upbeat and some of it is slower and calmer. All I know is that Mom said it's romantic and that a lot of these are Elena's favourite songs.

I stand up and before she can protest, I take Elena's hand and pull her up. I twirl her around and bring her in close to me and then push her away, letting the dance decide on its own course. It flows effortlessly and naturally, like Elena and I have choregraphed and practised this dance for months.

There are a few brief moments in which she's so close that, if I held her for a few seconds longer, I could kiss her. I hold myself back though, it's not the right time. Maybe I'll kiss her later. If I have the guts to of course.

 _Don't be ridiculous. There's no way you're actually going to kiss her._

"What are you doing?" laughs Elena, following my lead.

"Dancing with you," I say simply.

We dance until the cassette finishes, both of us laughing and smiling. We let ourselves fall back onto the picnic blanket, catching our breaths a little, our hands still locked together without either of us noticing.

"You know, Zick, you're actually not that bad of a dancer." I look over at her and see the teasing grin on her face, her eyes lit up with happiness.

"Oh really?" I ask her, smirking slightly.

"I said not that bad. Don't let it go to your head, idiot."

"Well, it looks like all of my romantic charm is starting to affect you."

Elena snorts at me and I don't have to look to know that she's rolling her eyes. "As if. It's not going to work on me, Zick."

"We'll see about that," I say and before she can get a word out, I flip myself on top of her so that I'm sitting on her waist and tickle her like there's no tomorrow.

"Zick, stop it!" laughs Elena, trying in vain to push me off of her. "Come on, you idiot, get off of me!"

I can hear her protests but I choose not to listen. This is way too much fun.

Suddenly, Elena's fist makes contact with my chest, not too hard, just enough to make me stop tickling her. Her laughter is dying down as she tries to catch her breath.

I move so that I'm sitting by her side and as I watch her, I smile. She's just so amazing.

 _Man, I am so crazy about her, it's insane._

Eventually, Elena's laughter fades enough for her to sit up and just as she's getting comfortable, I speak. "You really are beautiful, you know that, right?"

"Are you serious?" asks Elena, confused but smiling nonetheless.

"Deadly." I look over at her and we make eye contact. It's not awkward or weird like you'd think it would be. Instead, it's peaceful and happy, calm and content.

Not looking away from her, I place my hand over Elena's and one by one, I lock our fingers together, making sure to memorise how soft her hands feel; hey, I don't exactly get time to do this very often because we're normally fighting monsters when we hold hands.

I scoot a little closer to her and now our shoulders are touching and the contact with her soft, bare skin sends jolts of electricity throughout my body. As I'm admiring her, a smile spreads across my face and then I notice a stray piece of hair so I gently push it away, resting my hand on her cheek.

We're close enough now that I can see our breaths mingling in the cool evening air and my heart is beating so fast that it feels like there's a few hundred soldiers marching around in my chest.

"Hey, Elena?" I whisper.

"Yeah, Zick?" she whispers back.

"I'm going to kiss you now."

"Okay."

And with that, I close the small gap between our lips and everything seems to pause for a few moments. Most of the time, people say that kissing the person you love is like feeling a bunch of fireworks explode inside your head but this kiss is different.

No, this kiss is sweet and gentle, tender and soft, delicate and careful. It's perfect.

Elena kisses me back, placing her hand on the nape of my neck as though as she's trying to pull me in closer and I happily oblige. I close the distance between our bodies and lean into her, moving both of my hands to sit on her waist. Her free hand joins her other one and I can feel her gently running them through the bottom of my hair.

 _God, this feels amazing._

After a few minutes we separate and I give myself a few moments to just take her in. Even with messy, tousled hair and slightly puffy lips, Elena looks beautiful.

"You're so gorgeous," I say, kissing her briefly.

When she doesn't say anything in response, I pull her onto my lap so that we can continue kissing. This one is different from the first kiss. It's more passionate and energetic, our lips moving slightly quicker than before.

Eventually, Elena releases the kiss and moves off of my lap, looking at me strangely.

"Everything okay, Elena?" I ask softly, putting a hand on her forearm.

"Yeah, it's just really weird, that's all," she replies, moving my hand away.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you said you're doing all this just to prove a point but you're acting as if you love me or something." Elena laughs as she says it, the idea of me actually being in love with her seemingly a ridiculous one.

This feels like an opportunity. Maybe I should tell her.

I take a deep breath before I speak, doing my best to build up my courage. This is harder than you'd think, you know.

"And what if I did, you know, love you?" I say awkwardly, keeping my eyes on anything but her.

"Then I'd want you to tell me, stupid," she laughs again, the answer seemingly obvious.

 _This is it. Do not ruin this now. You will never get another chance. Just man up and tell her._

"Okay, then. I love you, Elena." That came out a lot easier than I thought it would have. It just feels natural and right to say it to Elena because she's so amazing.

"I'm sorry, what?" Elena deadpans. "Did you just say you love me, Zick?"

 _Okay, this was clearly a mistake. There's no going back now though. I've already ruined our friendship so I may as well as go out with a bang._

"Uh, yeah. I've been in love with you for ages but I was too scared to tell you." I avoid her eyes as I speak, focusing instead on all of the patterns on the picnic blanket.

"Do you really mean that?" asks Elena carefully, unsure of whether or not I'm being serious.

"Of course, I do, Elena. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," I say quietly.

"But why would you be in love with me? There's nothing amazing or special about me."

That makes me look up at her and I laugh a little at how silly she's being.

"Hey, why are you laughing?" she says, clearly annoyed.

"Because that is by far the stupidest thing I've ever heard," I say. "The reason I'm in love with you is because you're beautiful and sweet and kind and funny. I'd tell you more but we'd be here all night." I take hold of the bottom of one her pigtails in my hand, wondering how she manages to keep her hair so soft.

"You really think all of that about me?" asks Elena, confusion and happiness evident on her face.

"Yeah, I do," I reply sincerely.

Elena leans in and kisses me. It doesn't last for longer than a few seconds but it's more than enough to make my head spin a little, just like all the others.

"I love you too, Zick."

"Really? I never thought you'd actually feel that way about me. That's why I didn't tell you until now."

"Really. I'm so glad that I met you. Not only did you introduce me to the monster world, but you let me in and made me feel like somebody outside of my family actually cared about me. Nobody ever took an interest in me or wanted to be my friend before I moved here and met you." Elena lights up as she speaks.

 _I must really mean a lot to her. Oh man, I can't believe that she actually loves me too._

"Well, all of those people missed out big time. You're the most amazing person I've ever met."

Elena smiles that oh so perfect smile and it's so contagious that I can't help but to smile too. Then, I kiss her, just enjoying how soft her lips feel and the crazy somersaults my stomach is doing.

Eventually, we separate and stand up. I shove everything into my backpack and take Elena's hand in mine as we begin to walk home. It's past ten o'clock now so it's dark but the streetlights bathe the street in a soft, warm glow so it's easy enough to see. The road is empty, cars parked neatly on each side and, seeing an opportunity, I grab my Walkman, pull Elena into the middle of the road and twirl her around as the music starts.

"Zick, we can't dance in the middle of the road," protests Elena but she's laughing and not making too big of an effort to return to the sidewalk.

"Sure, we can," I say. "The road's empty and it doesn't look like there's going to be any traffic."

We continue to dance for the last leg of the journey, laughing the entire time. Each time she's close enough, I quickly kiss her before resuming our dance home. When we reach our street, I turn off the cassette and walk Elena to her door.

"So, how did I do?" I say with a confident smirk. "Did I sweep you off of your feet? Charm you with my good looks and witty humour?"

Elena rolls her eyes but there's a smile on her face. "Yeah, I guess so. Just don't get too far ahead of yourself."

She giggles as she finishes talking and I pick her up, spinning her around in my arms for a few seconds before setting her down and kissing her for the final time that night.

"I love you, Elena," I say as we pull apart, resting my forehead against hers.

"I love you too, Zick," she replies, heading towards her door.

As she opens it, I call to her quietly. "Hey, do you want to go on a date after school tomorrow? You know, go to the movies or something?"

Elena smiles brightly at me, nodding her head. "Sure, Zick. I'd really like that."

I quickly kiss her one last time, smiling at her as she closes the door.

I head home with a goofy smile on my face, feeling on top of the world. The girl I love feels the same way and we're going on a date tomorrow.

Yeah, my life is pretty much perfect now.

* * *

 **A/N** Hope you liked it. Read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** Second chapter! Read and review!

* * *

A date. I have a date with Elena.

Where do I take her? What should we do? Have I waited too long? I did say the night after everything happened in the park but there was a really dangerous monster on the loose so we had to deal with that instead.

There are so many questions. Maybe this was too much. What if it goes really badly? What if she doesn't show up?

 _Well then, it's whatever this is over, genius._

But she said that she loves me.

Oh wow, Elena loves me. It's been a few days and it still hasn't really sunk in. I can't believe that Elena, the girl who I dream about every night, the girl who can put a smile on my face just by being next to me, actually loves me. I thought I was going to get shot down and would have to kiss away my friendship with her that night when I told her how I feel.

But what are we at the moment? I mean, I love her and she loves me but we haven't put a name on anything yet. We're not dating. We're not boyfriend and girlfriend. It seems like we're just best friends who are in love with each other but are too scared to take the next step forward.

I want more than that though, and I'm pretty sure that Elena does as well but how do I take that next step? Do I just ask her outright if she wants to be my girlfriend? Do I wait for a bit before I talk to her about all of this? Do I take her on a date and see what happens?

This is all so confusing and crazy. I have no idea what to do and I think I'm in over my head a little.

Maybe I should talk to Dad. He'll know what to do, right?

* * *

A few hours later, it's getting into the early evening when I hear the door open from the kitchen. How do I go about this? I don't really want him to know that it's Elena we're talking about. It's not that I'm embarrassed about Elena. I just don't really want either of my parents to know because I'm not sure how Elena would react. I don't know if she wants to keep everything low-key or just tell everybody straight away.

"Hey, Dad, I need some advice," I say as he walks into the kitchen.

He spins around quickly and sees me at the table. "Oh, Zick! You gave me a bit of a scare, son," he laughs, opening the refrigerator to find a pre-dinner snack. Mom won't be too happy about that.

"Sorry, Dad," I smile.

"So, what's up? Are you having problems at school?" he asks, sitting across from me.

"No, it's nothing like that. It's more like-"

"Oh, girl problems, huh?" he interrupts suddenly and the confusion is definitely more than apparent on my face.

 _How did he know?_

"Well yeah, but not me," I say quickly. "It's actually about a friend of mine. He's not really sure where he stands with this girl that he likes."

"Has he told her how he feels about her?"

"Yeah, and he asked if she wanted to go out with him."

"And what did she say?"

"She said yes but it's been a week and they haven't actually gone on a date yet. Now he's worried about how to ask her again."

Dad pauses for a moment, seemingly in thought. I sure hope he knows what to do.

"You know, your dad had the exact same problem with me."

Dad and I turn around in our seats to see Mom standing in the doorway. Has she been there the whole time?

"Really? What happened?" I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.

"Well, for one thing, your dad was a nervous wreck when he asked me out," laughs Mom, joining us at the table.

"I was not! I just didn't know to how to ask you," protests Dad.

"Oh please! You were as red as a tomato and you stuttered so much it's a miracle I actually heard what you said," Mom laughs again and I laugh along with her. This is priceless. "And why are you eating? I was just about to make dinner."

"Don't worry. I haven't eaten that much." He gives me a quick wink, a silent agreement between us to keep the extent of Dad's snacking a secret.

"So, Dad, what should I... I mean, my friend, do?"

 _That was close. Be careful what you say, idiot._

Mom turns around from making the salad to face us, knife in hand. "Well, I would tell your friend to ask this girl out again. She's probably thinking that he's lost interest in her."

"It's definitely not that. The guy's been into her for well over a year now. He's practically head over heels." It's as I'm saying this that I remember just how crazy I am about Elena.

"All the more reason to ask her out again then, huh?" comments Mom.

I nod in agreement. "Yeah, I guess so."

I stand up from the table to go upstairs and start on my homework. Maybe that will distract me from this for a while.

"Elena really is a special girl, you know that, right?"

I turn around to see Mom looking at me with a small smirk. Does she know that I was talking about Elena this whole time? Is it really that obvious?

"Yeah, of course I do," I manage. "I have to do my homework now."

I don't give Mom a chance to respond and make a dash for my room but as I'm beginning to climb the stairs, I hear my parents talking.

"He sure is growing up fast," comes Mom's voice.

"You got that right," agrees Dad. "I always had a feeling that he liked her."

 _Note to self. Never ask my parents for advice again._

* * *

The next morning comes around and is filled with the usual routine of fighting Bombo for my shoes and leaving late as a result. I think Jeremy has come to accept that it's one routine he'll never be able to stop, no matter how hard he tries.

I shut the door behind me with a spring in my step. As embarrassing as it was asking my parents for advice, I did in fact spend all night thinking about it and even made a decision on what to do about this mess.

I'm going to ask Elena out again. I don't know how or when or where. I just know that I'm going to ask her out again.

I wait for Elena on the sidewalk. As strange as it sounds, we've actually been able to carry on as normal. Despite how weird the situation has become, we're not avoiding each other or anything which is quite frankly, a huge relief.

"Hey, Zick," says Elena, a frown on her face.

 _I wonder why she's upset. And how come she's wearing her hair down?_

"You will never guess what happened this morning."

"Bombolo ate your homework?"

"No, worse. Violet stole my hair ribbons and I didn't have time to look for them."

"So, what's the big deal? I'm sure you'll find them later."

"The big deal is that I have to wear my hair down and it looks terrible." Elena runs her fingers through her hair, trying to smooth it down. "It's all frizzy and you can see my split ends and everything."

"Well, I actually think you look kinda nice with your hair down." We stop just outside of the school doors with a few minutes left before we have to go inside.

"Really? Thanks, Zick." She smiles at me and I smile back, the moment peaceful and calm.

"Hey, Elena. About the other day, do you…"

Suddenly, I'm interrupted by Patty and Mattie observing us, eager yet obviously fake grins plastered across their faces.

 _And moment shattered._

"I can't believe it. It's finally happening," says Patty.

"I know. Elena, you even wore your hair down just for this!" agrees Mattie.

"I wore my hair down because I have two very annoying little brothers," says Elena, clearly ticked off by their presence. "Not for whatever you think this is."

"Okay, Elena. We'll take your word for it." Mattie winks which only serves to annoy Elena even more.

"Yeah, we totally believe you," adds Patty.

Before an argument between Elena and the school's top gossip queens can begin, the bell rings and I take the opportunity to grab Elena's hand and hurry her inside.

"Aw, he's holding her hand!"

"They are so cute together!"

We take our seats and class starts as normal. It's a long morning of English and math, my least favourite subjects.

In my peripheral vision, I watch as Elena breezes through the math problems at lightning speed.

 _Man, she's smart._

"Okay class, time for recess," says Ms Swift. "Be back here in fifteen minutes."

We make our way outside and grab one of the few benches before anybody else can. I begin telling Elena about Bombo's latest scheme to try and snatch my shoes this morning.

"Somehow, he managed to sneak into my room and when I woke up he was halfway through eating my shoes."

"He sure has gotten less discreet about it." Elena laughs, not surprised by the crazy happenings at my house. We've been best friends for so long that it's as normal to her as drinking tea is to the British. Why do they love it so much anyway?

"So, Elena, this new movie just came out and it looks pretty good so I was wondering if – ow!"

A basketball lands at my feet and I look up to see Ford and Soup staring at me with proud smiles.

 _Seriously? Again? It's like the world doesn't want me to ask Elena out._

"Good shot, Soup!" says Ford.

They high-five and walk in the direction of the school, laughing. Recess is over and it's time for class again.

Ms Swift begins explaining the afternoon assignment but I'm not really paying attention. In the back of my mind, I register that it has something to do with plants but all I can think about is the fact that I've had two opportunities to ask Elena out again and they've both been ruined.

Then, I feel something nudging my shoulder.

"Zick, aren't you going to help me?" Elena's giving me a pretty sceptical look.

"Oh, sorry. I kind of spaced out for a while." I laugh and Elena rolls her eyes at me.

We begin the assignment, our conversation switching between plants and monsters and everything else that best friends talk about.

"Hey, since we don't have to worry about class at the Ancient Armoury, do you maybe want to…"

"Zick, Elena. If you're going to talk about your love life, then please do it outside of the classroom. Otherwise, focus on the assignment," Ms Swift's voice cuts in from across the room, strict and stern.

The class bursts into a fit of laughter and my face turns red. Ms Swift quickly hushes the class and everyone returns to their work but I know I won't be living that down anytime soon.

 _Great, now the whole class knows._

The rest of the day wraps itself up quickly and soon, Elena and I are walking home.

Just as we're approaching our houses, I decide to try and ask Elena out one more time. We're all alone, there's nobody around. Surely nothing can go wrong this time, right?

"Hey, Elena, would you like to go with me to…"

"Zick!" We turn around to see my dad standing on the front step, waving to me.

 _Damn it, not again._

"I need a hand moving the table," he says. "Oh, hello, Elena."

Elena smiles and waves before turning back to me. "Well, I should be going. I need to get started on my homework. Bye, Zick."

As she turns around to go to her house, however, I grab hold of her wrist and spin her around to face me. "Wait, why don't we do our homework together? I'm sure my parents and all the monsters want to see you."

"Okay." Then she glances down, noticing that I'm still holding her wrist.

"Sorry," I say quickly, moving my hand away.

We enter my house, dropping our school bags by the door.

I head into the living room to help Dad move the table and Elena follows.

"Hey, Zick. We just need to move this table into the corner," says Dad. "For some reason, your mother has decided to buy new furniture for the living room."

"Here, I'll give you a hand." Elena and I grab hold of one end of the table and between the three of us, the table is moved in seconds.

"So, how was school?" asks Dad, sitting on the sofa.

"Same old stuff, although Zick doesn't know how to concentrate," says Elena, punching me playfully in the shoulder.

I rub my shoulder; Elena's stronger than she looks, you know.

"It's not my fault plants are the most boring subject in the world."

Elena rolls her eyes at me but she's smiling.

"We're going up to my room to do our homework. See you at dinner," I say, heading for the stairs.

"Okay. Just don't have too much fun." Dad winks at me and I flush bright red.

"Dad!"

 _I sure hope Elena didn't hear that._

I follow Elena up the stairs in a hurry, wanting only to forget Dad's little comment and focus on the task at hand – asking Elena out. I've already tried four times today. Maybe the fifth time's the charm?

We take up residence on the floor as we begin our homework. A comfortable silence settles down between us, broken only on occasion when we're comparing our work.

After a little while, I hear the loud thump of a book closing. I look up to see Elena packing her stuff away.

"Are you finished already?" I ask, both bewildered and amazed as to how she completed it so quickly.

"Yeah," she says. "How much do you have left?"

"Just the last page of algebra."

"Well, have fun with that," laughs Elena, rising to her feet. "I'll see you tomorrow, Zick."

I stand up quickly and grab Elena's hand. "Wait!"

"Are you okay, Zick?" she asks, turning to me as I let go of her hand.

Elena's looking at me like I've gone completely crazy or something. Well, to be fair, this day has been driving me crazy.

"Zick, Elena. Dinner's almost ready," comes Mom's voice from downstairs.

"No, I'm not okay. I've been trying all day to ask you out again and every single time it's been interrupted or ruined somehow," I say in one long breath, exasperated but glad that I've finally said it.

"Well ask me now then."

"What?"

"I'm giving you an opportunity to try again, idiot."

"Okay then. Elena, would you like to…"

"Zick, Elena. I said that your dinner is ready," interrupts Mom for the second time this evening.

 _I guess the fifth time isn't the charm._

Mom sounds a little annoyed but I ignore it. Instead, I quickly open my door and stand at the top of the stairs.

"Not now!" I shout, slamming my door loudly behind me. Can't I ever catch a break?

"Okay, you get another attempt, even if that was pretty funny," says Elena, laughing a little.

"Right. Elena, do you want to go out tomorrow night?"

"Of course, I do," she says. "It took you long enough to ask me."

She nudges me playfully and I pick her up her, swinging her around the room. Our laughter quietens as I set her down and kiss her briefly.

"Come on, we should go downstairs," says Elena, moving towards the door.

I follow her reluctantly, not wanting the moment to end.

"Everything alright, you two?" asks Dad as Elena and I sit across from him at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, of course," I say nonchalantly, trying not to seem overly happy.

"Never been better," adds Elena.

As we begin eating, out of the corner of my eye I notice my parents smiling at each other as they watch Elena and I talking.

I guess it really is true that you can't keep a secret from your parents, no matter how hard you try.


End file.
